Stay at home, stay safe – we bring Käthe Kollwitz to you!
Welcome to the virtual tour of our exhibition,
guided by director Dr Josephine Gabler (in German).
Grievances caused by cramped living conditions, unemployment and life prospects have been a topic in the visual arts since the 1910s. In addition to Hans Baluschek and Heinrich Zille, Käthe Kollwitz in particular was considered a committed artist who knew how to portray social misery with empathy in a forceful visual language. Socially committed motifs, which she mostly created on commission, can be found throughout her work.
As early as 1912, Käthe Kollwitz designed a poster to support the formation of a Greater Berlin community in order to draw attention to the continuing grievances after its creation, especially in the economically difficult years after Germany lost the First World War.
Thanks to generous loans from an important private collection in North Rhine-Westphalia and a Collection from Switzerland, it is possible to compare drawings and prints side by side. The great skill of the artist is as evident as her compassionate commitment.
The “Law on the Formation of a New Berlin City Community” came into force on the 1st October 1920, triggering a long-standing dispute over the political responsibility for the expansion of Berlin. The social problems of the densely populated city of Berlin and the prosperity of the surrounding cities and municipalities should be balanced by incorporation into a single large community:
